The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke on Tuesday said the Hon. Farouk Lawal led ad- hoc committee that probed the oil subsidy was unfair to her since it was the late President Umar Yar’Adua who refused to punish the former minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Rilwan Lukman, for not complying with his directive on the removal of kerosene subsidy in June 2009.
She said the House of Representatives was unfair to have accused her and President Goodluck Jonathan of not complying with the law that has nothing to do with them.
The minister was responding to questions at the Ministerial Platform in commemoration of National Democracy Day 2012 & First Anniversary of President Jonathan’s administration in Abuja.
Madueke said: “There was an issue on the directive of the late President in terms of the removal of kerosene subsidy, which happened apparently in June 2009 before the current minister, myself was appointed.
Now, under section 6 of the Petroleum Act, Minister of Petroleum may by notice publish in the official gazette, fix the price for petroleum products, which means that for it to actually become a law, the minister must publish that the petroleum product price has changed.”
The minister, however, noted that “I do not recall and I don’t think anybody in the country recalls any of such directive published in 2009. It is not something that has to be hidden because it has to by law be published.
Therefore, if it is not published by law and it is not gazetted, it is not a directive that can be legally complied with. Many months passed and that minister did not comply with the direct of the President.
“The President also did not put in place any punitive measures obviously for good reasons. He must have had very good reasons not to do that.
So, it is very odd that a new administration and a new President and a new minister we are being accused of flouting the law which was given in the past to a minister and has nothing to do with us.”
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